Hell ship
A hell ship is a ship with extremely inhumane living conditions or with a reputation for cruelty among the crew. It now generally refers to the ships used by the Imperial Japanese Navy and Imperial Japanese Army to transport Allied prisoners of war and rōmusha out of the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies, Hong Kong, and Singapore in World War II. These POWs were taken to the Japanese Islands, Formosa, Manchukuo, Korea, the Moluccas, Sumatra, Burma, or Siam to be used as forced labor.Etymology
During the American Revolutionary War, Patriot prisoners of war sometimes referred to British prison ships they were held in using the terms "hell" and "hell ship". Captured Patriot military personnel who refused to swear allegiance to the Crown during the conflict were kept by the British in prison ships, many of which were aging and dilapidated warships. Conditions onboard these ships were frequently abysmal, and outbreaks of diseases such as dysentery were rife among prisoners. The most infamous prison ship was, which was designed to hold a complement of 400 crewmen but held up to 1,000 prisoners of war during the conflict; when the war ended in 1783, it was abandoned and burnt in New York Harbor.
During World War II, the term "hell ship" was revived by Allied prisoners of war to refer to merchant vessels requisitioned by the Empire of Japan to transport POWs and forced labourers to various locations under Japanese control. According to American historian Gregory F. Michno, during World War II 134 Japanese "hell ships" transported roughly 126,000 Allied POWs via more than 156 voyages. During the war, the Japanese engaged in the widespread use of forced labour, including from Allied POWs, to produce the vast quantities of materials needed to maintain military operations. As such, these ships were used to transfer POWs to areas where they would forcibly produce material for Japan's war effort.
Conditions onboard these vessels were abysmal, with passengers being frequently denied access to adequate food, drink and bathroom facilities while being placed into cramped conditions. Terminal dehydration, hyperthermia and starvation along with summary executions and excessive beatings led to the death of some, though the greatest cause of fatalities for POWs aboard these ships were Allied attacks, which unintentionally killed thousands of passengers. The United States Navy carried out most of these attacks with the help of Allied intelligence services and the Royal Navy's British Pacific Fleet.
The term "hell ship" was also used by the British press to refer to ships used by Nazi Germany to transport Allied POWs, such as the oil tanker. The ship was transporting 300 British sailors picked up after being on merchant ships sunk by the Kriegsmarine cruiser when it was boarded by the Royal Navy destroyer, which rescued the sailors. When describing the rescue, which came to be known as the Altmark incident, British newspapers frequently described Altmark with epithets such as "Hitler's hell-ship" or the "Nazi hell-ship".Japanese hell ships
In May 1942, the Japanese began transferring its captured POWs by sea. Prisoners were often crammed into cargo holds with little air, ventilation, food, or water, for journeys that would last weeks. Many died due to asphyxia, starvation or dysentery. Some POWs became delirious and unresponsive in their environment of heat, humidity and lack of oxygen, food, and water. These transports carried a mixture of POWs and regular Japanese troops and cargo, and thus were not eligible to be marked as non-combatants. As a result, such vessels could be attacked by Allied submarines and aircraft, meaning they were at risk of being sunk before they even reached their destination. More than 20,000 Allied POWs died at sea when the transport ships carrying them were attacked by Allied submarines and aircraft.''Arisan Maru''
On October 24, 1944, the Arisan Maru was transporting 1,781 U.S. and Allied military and civilian POWs when it was hit by a torpedo from a U.S. submarine, at about 5:00 p.m.; it finally sank about 7:00 p.m. No POWs were killed by the torpedo strikes, and nearly all were able to escape from the ship's holds, but the Japanese did not attempt to rescue any of them from the sea. Only nine of the prisoners aboard survived the event. Five escaped and made their way to China in one of the ship's two life boats. They were reunited with U.S. forces and returned to the United States. The remaining four were later recaptured by Imperial Japanese naval vessels, with one of them dying shortly after they reached land.''Brazil Maru''
Survivors of the Oryoku Maru, which sank on 15 December 1944, were loaded on the Enoura Maru and the. Both ships reached Takao harbor in Taiwan on New Year's Day. On 6 January 1945, the smaller group of prisoners were transferred from Brazil Maru to Enoura Maru. However, on January 9, the Enoura Maru was bombed and disabled by U.S. aircraft. Brazil Maru transported the last surviving Allied POWs to Moji, Japan, on 29 January 1945. There the Japanese medics were shocked at the wasted condition of the POWs and used triage to divide them. The 110 most severe cases were taken to a primitive military hospital in Kokura where 73 died within a month. Four other groups were sent to Fukuoka POW camps 1, 3, 4 and 17. Of 549 men alive when the ship docked, only 372 survived the war. Some eventually went to a POW camp in Jinsen, Korea, where they were given light duty, mainly sewing garments for the Japanese Army.''Buyo Maru''
was a 5,446 ton carrying mainly Indian POWs. It was torpedoed by, commanded by CDR Dudley W. Morton, on 26 January 1943. Morton then ordered the ship's lifeboats to be fired upon with small arms fire. The Hague Convention of 1907 bans the killing of shipwreck survivors under any circumstances. Morton and his executive officer Richard O'Kane also reported that they had misidentified the survivors as Japanese. O'Kane further explained that the fire from Wahoo was intended to force the troops to abandon their boats and no troops were deliberately targeted. Vice Admiral Charles A. Lockwood, the Commander of the Submarine Force for the U.S. Pacific Fleet, asserted that the survivors were army troops and turned machine gun and rifle fire on Wahoo while she maneuvered on the surface and that such resistance was common in submarine warfare. It was reported that many of the lifeboat occupants were Indian POWs of the 2nd Battalion, 16th Punjab Regiment, plus escorts from the Japanese 26th Field Ordnance Depot. Of 1,126 men aboard Buyo Maru, 195 Indians and 87 Japanese died in all, between the shooting incident and the initial sinking,. On the next day, 27 January 1943, the Choku Maru rescued the remaining survivors and took them to Palau.''Enoura Maru''
About 1,000 of the survivors of the Oryoku Maru, which sank on 15 December 1944, were loaded on the Enoura Maru while the rest boarded the smaller Brazil Maru. Both ships reached Takao harbor in Taiwan on New Year's Day. On 6 January 1945, the smaller group of prisoners was transferred from Brazil Maru to Enoura Maru, and 37 British and Dutch were taken ashore. However, on January 9, the Enoura Maru was bombed and disabled by aircraft from USS Hornet while in harbor, killing about 350 men.''Hofuku Maru''
The, also known as Hohuku Maru, was a Japanese cargo ship, sunk on 21 September 1944 by American aircraft, while carrying 1,289 British and Dutch prisoners of war; 1,047 of them died.''Jun'yō Maru''
The 5,065-ton tramp steamer Jun'yō Maru sailed from Tandjoeng Priok on 16 September 1944 with about 4,200 romusha slave labourers and 2,300 POWs aboard. These Dutch POWs included 1,600 from the 10th Battalion camp and 700 from the Kampong Makassar camp. This 23rd transport of POWs from Java was called Java Party 23. Java Party 23 included about 6,500 men bound for Padang on the west coast of Sumatra to work on the Sumatra Railway. On 18 September 1944 the ship was 15 miles off the west coast of Sumatra near Benkoelen when hit her with two torpedoes, one in the bow and one in the stern. About 4,000 romushas and 1,626 POWs died when the ship sank in 20 minutes. About 200 romushas and 674 POWs were rescued by Japanese ships and taken to the prison in Padang, where eight prisoners died.''Kachidoki Maru''
On 12 September 1944, with 950 British POWs on board, was sunk by. 431 of them were killed. Kachidoki Maru was traveling in a convoy with , which was sunk the same day by.''Lisbon Maru''
Lisbon Maru was carrying 2,000 British POWs from Hong Kong to Japan in appalling conditions when torpedoed by USS Grouper on 1 October 1942. 800 POWs died when the ship sank the following day. Many were shot or otherwise killed by the ship's Japanese guards.''Maros Maru''
The 600-ton Maros Maru sailed from Ambon on 17 September 1944 routed along the south-coast of Celebes with about 500 British and Dutch POWs bound for Surabaya. On 21 September 1944 the ship arrived at Muna Island to embark 150 POWs. The ship required engine repairs upon arrival in Makassar. Here 159 POWs died in the holds in the 40 days required to complete repairs. They got a seaman's grave in the harbour of Makassar. Only 327 POWs survived when the ship reached Surabaya on 26 November 1944. They were transported by train to the Kampong Makassar camp in Batavia, and arrived on 28 November 1944.''Montevideo Maru''
was a Japanese auxiliary ship that was sunk in World War II by the submarine, resulting in the drowning of 1,054 Australian prisoners of war and civilians being transported from Rabaul. Prior to the war, it operated as a passenger and cargo vessel, traveling mainly between Asia and South America.